Only Exception
by dorkycorky88
Summary: After watching her mother's life crumble Casey makes a simple promise: To never fall in love. But there are ALWAYS exceptions and Derek was certainly a big one. What happens after a whirlwind summer when Casey realizes that Derek will be her new stepbrother? Dasey. Rated T just in case. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I am a little fuzzy on a few things it has been a while since I was able to watch LWD so I'm not sure if they specify what age Casey was when her dad left.  
I am also tweaking their ages when they first meet to 17 (Senior year). This was inspired by Paramore's "The Only Exception". I own NOTHING.  
First Fic, reviews are more than welcome!

Prologue

It was impossible to forget that night; I was seven and my parents were having the worst fight I have ever heard.  
Harsh names were slung, glass was breaking and then the unmistakable sound of the front door opening and then slamming shut.  
I could hear my mother crying but I was too afraid to go to her, I was supposed to have been asleep for hours and I didn't want her to be upset with me.  
I crept out of my bed and ran to my window in time to see my father hastily throw a suit case in his back seat.  
With a huff he turned to look back at our home and seen me in the window; his face fell and he shook his head.  
He climbed in to his car and drove away. He never came home and from then on the only time I seen my father was on my birthday or the odd holiday.

For ten years I lived believing that love was never real. Sure, I would go on a date here and there just to escape from the loneliness I had created.  
I never allowed myself to open up due to my fear. And I never wanted to feel the way my mother felt that night; betrayed, unworthy and heart-broken.  
I threw myself into my studies and busied myself with extracurricular activities. But there were times that school couldn't help stifle my screaming heart, and that's when I would accept a boy's invitation on a date. I would will myself to have fun but I think deep down all of the boys I have ever dated knew that my heart wasn't in it. I don't remember when it was that I had decided to never fall in love, but I was doing a damn good job of it up until now. Up until I met Him.

CHAPTER 1

I woke up with the sun in my eyes and looked around my room. My new room. My mother's job moved us here and I hate it.  
I had to leave my school and my friends. And on top of that my mother has already met someone after only living here for three days, his name was George and he has three children. I have never met him or his kids, I have always been conveniently busy or had too much homework.  
Lizzie has met George but has said that she wasn't ready to meet his kids yet. I haven't even bothered to ask what his children's names are.

I let out a sigh and decided to go down stairs. My mother and Lizzie were unpacking the kitchen, well, rather, Lizzie was unpacking the kitchen and my mother helped while she got ready for her date with George. My mother looked at me and at her watch and then smiled at me. "That was a very long nap. I thought you might have been out for the night." Before I could say anything she spoke again. "Listen, I'm going to be leaving here in about twenty minutes if I gave you some money would you take your sister out to eat?" Lizzie's face light up "I seen a little diner down the street today, can we go Casey?" I could never refuse her when she got so excited over little things. "Sure," I said taking the money from my mother's hand. She danced around the living room putting her shoes on and getting her purse. I watched her for a few minutes. She was so happy, she had only known this George for two weeks and she was turning into a giddy school girl. I missed seeing my mother this happy. I can only hope that this George is a good guy, I can't stand to see my mother cry.

She sees me looking at her and blushes. "What?" she asks. "Nothing," I let out a small chuckle. "What time will you be home?" "No later than mid-night, George has an early case tomorrow." She walked over to Lizzie and gave her and hug and kissed the top of her head, she walked over to me and did the same. "Lizzie please listen to your sister tonight. And no fighting." And with that she smiles and walks out the door. I walk over to where Lizzie is and sit on the counter next to her and playfully bump her with my shoulder. "Why don't you go put on something cute and we'll go wherever you want to eat. Sound good?" Lizzie smiles and runs up stairs.

It's very hard not to treat her like a child, she is fourteen now but I still see her as this small thing who had to be told that Daddy wasn't coming home anymore. To see her crying for him every night broke my heart and made me hate my father. My stomach makes a noise as I slide off of the counter, if Lizzie is going to dress up I might as well too. A lot of our stuff hasn't arrived from our old apartment yet so I'm missing most of my clothes. I dig through a box and find my black skinny jeans and a turquoise v neck tank top, I look through my jewelry box and find my necklace that my mother got me and Lizzie for Christmas last year, a sterling silver chain with a snowflake the size of a dime. I brush my hair and go down stairs and wait for Lizzie. I stifle a giggle when I see that she has chosen to wear almost the same thing. Her tank top is purple but the pants and the necklace are the same. "Oh," She blushes and turns around to go back upstairs "No Lizzie, I think it's cute," I say getting her to walk back down. "Ready?" I ask grabbing the keys off the counter.

We pull into the lot of the little diner that Lizzie suggested and go inside. It's the kind of place where you order your food and then go sit down and they bring it to you. A rich man's fast food place if you will. There are a lot of young people here, a few people look at us when we enter but quickly lose interest in us and go back to their food. I go to the counter and a woman in her fifties takes our order. As I am paying I hear the door behind me open but don't bother to look at it. Then I notice that the place has gone deadly quiet and every girl in the room, including those who have dates with them have their eyes glued to the door. This piques my interest so I turn around. As I turn I almost bump into someone. I was about to tell the person off before my eyes focused and I seen him. He had a slight smile on his face, his hair was messy and he had on a leather jacket. "Sorry," He said with a voice like velvet. I could feel my cheeks start to burn with blush, I turned my face away from his that was only inches away from mine "It's alright," I say taking a step back. His smile gets a little bigger, his puts his hand out. "Derek Venturi," he says raising his eyebrow slightly. I take his hand, "Casey," How long we stand there with my hand in his I don't know, Lizzie clears her throat. I drop my hand "Sorry, this is my sister Lizzie." Lizzie gives a small "Hi," Derek smiles at her. His face brightens up as an idea hits him, "Would you ladies care to sit with me?"

**Sorry this was so short I just wanted to get this out there. This is my first fanfic so please please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_I wasn't going to update so soon, but I had written the prologue and first chapter a few days ago and was eager to get the next one up._

CHAPTER 2

Derek picks a table in the back and away from the rest of the patrons.  
I let Lizzie slid into the booth first before I take my seat, across from Derek. Lizzie stares down at her food and occasionally takes a bite from her hamburger. I glance across the table to the boy sitting with us, he casually picks up a French fry and eats it, all the while keeping eye contact with me. I sit up straight, I will not let this kid (No matter how cute he is!) intimidate me. I lean in and look him in the eyes, "So, do you often come here and try to pick up girls and their little sisters?" I feel Lizzie shuffle in her seat next to me clearly uncomfortable. Derek's eyes smile but his lips stay in a smirk. He leans in and whispers, "Only when they are as pretty as you." We both sit back and study each other for a moment.

"So, Casey, do _you_ often come here and sit with someone - as handsome as he may be - you don't know?" he folds his arms behind his head looking rather smug. "Only if they promise to take me out for ice cream sometime." As I say that I rub my foot on his leg. He makes a face that I can only describe as surprised and raises his eye brow. It's at this moment that I realize that I haven't eaten any of my food. I look over to Lizzie who has finished. "You about ready to go?" I ask her and stuff my food back into the bag it came in. I look over at Derek but his face is emotionless. I stand up and let Lizzie out of the booth and we turn to walk out the door. I stop and dig a pen out of my purse and walk back over to Derek who still sitting at the table, watching me. Without asking I grab Derek's hand and ignore the sharp intake of breath he gives and write my number on his hand. I look at him and smile. "See you around, Derek." And catch up with Lizzie.

Once we get into the car she looks over at me. "What the heck was that?" She asks. I laugh, "What are you talking about?" "With that boy in there. You never talk to boys, especially the way you did just now." She reaches over and puts her hand on my forehead checking for a temperature. I lightly bat her hand away, "I'm fine, Liz. Is it so weird that I was flirting with someone?" She lets out a short laugh, "A lot of things you do are weird." I pinch her arm but that just makes her laugh harder.

We walk in the house and Lizzie goes upstairs. I sit at the counter and eat my food. I jump as I hear the phone ring. "Hello?" I say almost singing. Silence. "Hello?" I ask more seriously. I hear a sigh on the other end. "Casey?" The voice asks. "Yes, this is Casey, who is this?" "It's Derek," He breathes out. "Oh," is all I can say. I am stunned that he called. I look at the clock, I had only left the diner an hour ago. "Listen, I don't normally do this but," I could hear the nervousness in his voice, it was odd, he seemed so cocky and confident in the dinner. "Yeah?" I ask maybe a little too sweetly. "I don't normally do this but for some reason I can't stop thinking about getting ice cream with you." I don't know what to say, it has been a while since a boy has shown interest in me; well that's a lie, I see boys notice me all the time, but it's been a long time since one has called me. I decide to give him a hard time. "Oh yeah?" He chuckles "Yeah," he says playfully. He is playing along, "And what if I say that I'm busy tonight?" I say in my most flirtatious tone. "Then I'll have to call you tomorrow, and the next day if I have to." I chuckle and shift my feet. I was about to say something but he interrupts me. "Seriously, what are you doing tonight?" I don't know what to say, his forwardness has taken me aback. "I, I… I'm watching my little sister while my mother is out." I hate stammering. "Would you care for some company?" I swear I can hear the smirk creep onto his face. "Gee, I don't know Der, I just met you. You might be crazy." I say leaning against the counter. "We're already on to pet names huh? And I'm not crazy, unless I'm talking to you." He says with an awkward laugh. Clearly he is not used to being the pursuer when it comes to girls. I decide he needs to work a little before I give in.  
"You see the thing is, Derek, if I had a boy –as handsome as he maybe-" I say throwing his own line back at him. "Alone with me in the house I can almost guarantee my mother would have a heart attack. Plus I might not be able to keep my hands to myself." I can almost see that silly smirk he gave me in the diner. "Well, if you happen to take advantage of me I promise not to press charges." I laugh into the phone and I'm quite for a minute. "Is that a yes?" He says. I'm stuck for an answer. I do really want to see him again but if my mother ever found out he was here she would kill me. But curiosity has gotten the best of me. "Yes,' I breathe into the phone. He's quite so I take this time to give him our address and then we get off the phone. I turn around and Lizzie is standing at the bottom of the stairs. I jump when I see her "Lizzie! You scared me." I look at her for a second "How much of that did you hear?" she smiles at me "All of it." And she runs up the stairs. I chase after her and get to her door before she can close it.

I pick her up and toss her on her bed. "Mom is going to kill you!" She says laughing at me. "No she won't, because she is never going to know!" I say giving her a stern look. She laughs even harder. "Stop it," I say tickling her. She manages to get away from me. "Okay, okay. I won't tell but," She says eying me. "What?" I ask suspiciously. "I want to borrow your brown dress. Mom signed me up for a day camp for soccer and they're having a little get together so we can all get to know everyone." I look at her, still suspicious. "And that's all?" She nods her head. "Alright," I say standing up "My closet is your closet." I say giving her a hand up. I go to the bathroom to check my appearance, my hair is a little messy but the minimal makeup I have on seems fine. I go down stairs and look at the clock. It was only 6:30 but I still didn't know when Derek was coming over… Or exactly when my mother would be home.

Just then there is a knock at the door. I walk over as calmly as I can and look through the peep-hole. And there he is. Messy hair, leather jacket, smirk and all. I try to ignore that my heart starts to race when I see him, I shake my head and open the door. I smile at him and he gives a lazy smile back. I look down and see that he has a small bag with him. He sees me nervously look down at the bag in his hand. "It's ice cream," he says handing it out to me. I try to contain the smile that I already know is spreading widely across my face. I take the bag, and with that Derek glides passed me into my house.

**Glad I finally got some Derek/Casey flirty banter in this one. I PROMISE in the next chapter there will be more. Again review review. This is my first story so any input is helpful :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Still don't own anything. Also if this is riddled with errors I'll fix it in the morning, I am very tired but I was on a roll and wanted to get this up before I went to bed.

CHAPTER 3

Lizzie is in the kitchen getting a glass of water when Derek and I walk in. "Hi, Lizzie." Derek says with a slight wave. Lizzie glares at him and puts her cup in the sink. "I'll be in my room," I suddenly feel bad. "Don't you want some ice cream?" I call out to her as she starts up the stairs. "No thank you." And then she's gone. I stand there for a minute feeling guilty.

"Trouble in paradise?" Derek says pointing at the ceiling. "No, she's just upset that you're here." "Ouch," he said holding his chest. I smile at him and take a step closer. "You didn't come over here to see her did you?" Derek's eyes brighten and he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, he leans in really close, with our lips almost touching. "How about that ice cream?" he whispers. He lifts his head up and smiles at me. I feel my knees start to weaken. I lock my legs before he can notice. I put my hand on his chest. "No one like a tease Venturi," I say poking his chest. He stumbles back and for a second I think I might have poked him too hard. He must see the concern on my face; he rights himself and smiles at me. For a second all I can do is just stare at him. I mean seriously, this boy was gorgeous, and he knows it too. I have been staring at him for so long it's begun to feel uncomfortable but I just can't seem to look away. I see Derek take a deep breath and he starts to walk towards me; I nervously take a step back, but there is nowhere to go, I'm already in front of the counter. Derek stops in front of me and lifts both of his hands and puts them on either side of my face, he gives a sweet smile and slowly leans in and kisses me. No one has ever kissed me like this before. This is sweet, this is tender; the other boys I had kissed before always kissed too roughly, I just assumed that was the way that boys liked to kiss.

My mind is foggy and I suddenly realize that my hands have made their way to his hair. Derek wraps his arms around me but the kiss stays the same, light and gentle as it was at the start. Remembering that my sister is upstairs I pull away slightly, but I make sure to look him in the eye and smile as to not hurt his feelings. He looks back at me and winks. "Ice cream?" I ask. "Ice cream," he repeats with that smirk of his. I turn around and get the ice cream scooper out of the drawer and get two bowls and two spoons, I think that I should probably make a small bowl for Lizzie and get out an extra spoon and bowl and set them on the counter. I scoop up ours and scoop a little in the bowl for Lizzie. "I'll be right back." I say to Derek and walk up the stairs.

I reach Lizzies door and knock "Liz, I brought you some ice cream, open the door please." I hear her footsteps get closer to the door and she opens it. "Peace offering?" I say holding the bowl up and smiling. She rolls her eyes but can't stop the giggle that has already escaped her. I know she can't stay mad at me, especially if there is ice cream involved. She takes the bowl. "Want to tell me what's wrong? And I know you're not really upset that Derek is here." She looks at me and then quickly looks at the floor. "I'm not mad that he's here. I'm just mad that you have already made a friend and I don't know anyone yet." I rub her head. "You've got that soccer dance this weekend to go to, there will be tons of boys and I'm sure you'll make a few friends." She looks at me and smiles. "You think?" I smile, "Of course, who wouldn't love this face?" I say pinching her cheeks. She scrunches her nose up at me. "Are we good?" I ask. She nods. "Do you want to come down and watch a movie with us?" Lizzie looks at me strangely. "Are you sure?" I was hoping that she would say no so I could spend some more time with Derek, but I don't want her mad at me anymore. "Yes, you coming or not?" I say as I walk down stairs. "Just a minute," she says and closes her door.

I walk back into the kitchen but Derek isn't there, I turn the corner and see him looking at a stack of DVDs. "Hey," I said to get him to turn around, he looks at me and smiles "Hey," I walk over to him and stand very close to him. I reach out and touch his arm. "My sister is feeling a little down, I invited her to come down and watch a movie with us. You're not upset are you?" I see disappointment flicker in his eyes and then he looks as if he's gotten an idea. "Well that doesn't leave us much time now does it?" he says wriggling his eyebrows. This time it's me who makes a move. I grab him by the shoulders and kiss him with as much fire as I have, it's deep and intense. His hands reach up to my hair and he runs his fingers through it, I pull him closer and my mind just goes blank.

We are both startled by the sound of Lizzie clearing her throat. We quickly break apart looking a guilty. "When you asked if I wanted to watch a show this was not what I had in mind." Lizzie says laughing. I look over at Derek and he is laughing to himself. "I like you Lizzie, you got spunk kid." Lizzie blushes slightly and fidgets for a moment unsure what to do. "So, what movie do you want to watch?" He asks her. She smiles at this and walks over to the entertainment center. I look back at Derek and raise my eyebrow at him and sit on the couch and pat the empty spot next to me.

Lizzie has picked out an action movie, which I hate. We all settle on the couch and eat our ice cream, about thirty minutes into the movie Lizzie has fallen asleep. Derek taps my shoulder I look at him and he lifts up his arm that's closes to me and make a motion for me to get closer. I snuggle deep into his side and he wraps both of his arms around me. I know it must be getting late, my mom will probably be home soon. But I can't bring myself to tell Derek that he needs to leave. I look at the clock and see that it's almost eleven, the movie is just about over and Lizzie has been snoring for almost an hour. I reluctantly unwrap myself from his arms and I notice that he has dozed off too. He was adorable while he slept, he looked so peaceful and every few seconds he would smile. I leaned in and gently kissed his lips and his eyes slowly fluttered open, he looked embarrassed after he realized he was sleeping. "It's almost eleven, my mom should be home soon. You should probably go."

I stood up and gave him my hand, he took it and I helped him up. He wiped his eyes when we reached the door. He turned to me and then looked at the ground. "I uh, I had a nice time tonight." He said barely above a whisper. I put my finger under his chin and made him look at me. I gave him a light kiss. "Me too," He opened the door and started to walk outside he stopped and took something out of his pocket and came back to me. He picked up my hand and began to write his phone number on it. He smiled at me and said "See you around, Casey." I smiled at the memory of what I said to him as I left the diner. This boy was going to be the death of me.

**I already have chapter 4 just about done, I should be able to add that tomorrow. Please pretty please review! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**_ Oh boy I said I wasn't going to update until the morning, but then someone reviewed the story and I just couldn't wait! _

CHAPTER 4

I closed the door and went to the living room and woke Lizzie so she could go to bed. She groggily climbed the stairs and went into her room. I cleaned up the ice cream mess and then went up to my own room. I dressed in pajamas, a simple white t shirt and black sweats and turned off my light and got into bed.

I had so much on my mind. Derek had been so sweet and he wasn't mad that I had let Lizzie tag along tonight, I kept thinking about that first kiss. If I didn't watch myself I could fall for this boy. And that just wasn't a risk I wanted to take. I've seen what this so called love can do to a person and I don't want any part of it.

I heard my mom come home so I relaxed a little and closed my eyes. It seemed like as soon as I closed them I was being awoken by the sounds of tapping on my window. I looked at my alarm clock, it was 2:00 in the morning. I laid there for a second sure I was hearing things. And then I heard it again, a soft clink on my window. I got out of bed and pulled back the curtains and tried to adjust my eyes to the darkness outside. After a minute I was able to focus on a figure on our lawn, they were motioning for me to open the window. I opened the window and stuck my head out and looked down at who I could only assume was Derek. I heard him sigh. "Oh good, I was hoping this was your window." He whispered up to me. I smiled and shook my head "Do you have any idea what time it is?" "A good time for a walk?" He said holding up his arm and pointed to a watch that wasn't there. I couldn't help but smile at him. "You just don't know when to quit do you?" He shook his head. "What can I say, I really liked eating ice cream with you." Even though it was hard to see his face I _knew_ he had that dopey smirk on his face. I pulled my head back inside for a moment to regain my composure. Either this boy was crazy or he was… Well, crazy. Who calls a girl he barely knows after an hour of meeting her? Who practically invites themselves to said girls house without really knowing her? And who comes and throws rocks at the girls window at 2 in the morning to go for a walk?  
I'm not really sure what kind of boy does that, but I fully intend to find out.

I poke my head back out the window and tell him I'll be down in a minute. I struggle to find my shoes and jacket in the dark. I feel my way to my dresser where I know I tossed a hair tie a few days ago. I find it and put my hair up in a messy bun. I quietly go down stairs and shut the front door.

Derek is standing at the end of my drive way with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. When I get closer to him he bowed and gestured to the sidewalk. We walk for a while in silence.  
_What the heck am I doing? I barely know this guy, this could be the stupidest thing I have ever done. How long have we been walking? Say something you idiot!  
_"Remind me why I agreed to come out with you?" I ask nudging his elbow. "Because you find me charming and irresistible." He says matter of factly. "I barely know you," I say. He scoffs and starts walking backwards. "So do you just enjoy picking up strange men in diners and inviting them to your house and then take advantage of them in your living room?" he says with a smile, I can't help but smile back. "One, if there were indeed any "picking up" it was you who picked me up," He rolls his eyes. "And two, I didn't invite you over, you invited yourself." He starts to say something but I put my hand over his mouth. "And three I didn't hear you complaining about the kissing. In fact I think it was you who kissed me first!" I say over exaggerating my words on the last sentence. He looks at me for a moment before speaking. "Casey, Casey, Casey," He says shaking his head. "You want to get to know me? Well then let's get to know each other." He says holding out his hand, I don't hesitate to take it. A few blocks ahead there is a small park, we walk over to the swings and sit down. I don't mention that he still has my hand in his afraid that he might take his away. We swing in silence for a few minutes still clutching each other's hands.

"How come I haven't seen you around here before?" He asks looking down at our intertwined hands. I squeeze his hand a little tighter so he doesn't let go. "We moved here from Toronto when my mom's job transferred her here almost three weeks ago." He nods his head. "And before you had to move, what were things like in Toronto?" I sigh, I fully intended on just telling him about my old school and friends but before I can stop myself I tell him _everything. _About my parent's fighting, about my mother catching my father with another woman in the house, him leaving and having to listen to my sister cry herself to sleep for months over it. I stop and I'm afraid to look at him. I shouldn't be telling him any of this. But for some reason I just feel like I can, like I've known him all my life. I look up at him with my eyes full of tears. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I even told you that. You must think I'm crazy." He smiles at me gently. "I do think you're crazy," he says wiping away a tear from my cheek. "But I like it." I give a halfhearted laugh. "Well now that you've put me to sleep with that ridiculously boring story," he pauses to smile at me so I know that he was only joking. I give him a smile and nod for him to go on. "What do you want to ask me?" I sit there for a minute, so many questions running through my head. "What do you do for fun?" "You mean besides picking up attractive strangers in diners?" I roll my eyes at him.  
"Hockey. I love to play Hockey." He tells me how he can just lose himself while he's on the ice. He doesn't have to think he just does whatever, like he's on autopilot. He tells me that he's the team captain and because of that he pretty much runs the school. He doesn't say the last part like he's bragging, it almost sounds like a burden, it's just expected of him. And then he tells me about all of the girls he has been with. _This is what you wanted. This is the crap you get to hear because you want to get to know the guy that you made out with after knowing him all of five minutes._ He senses that something has changed in me. He winces. "Probably not something I should have brought up on a first date huh?" _This could be alright. I mean, I never intend to get into anything serious and if all he is looking for is the same thing who am I to judge him? I know what his game is, I know what to expect now. _

"No it's alright, we're getting to know each other, remember?" I feel him squeeze my hand. "I really like you Casey, I don't want to scare you off by what I just said. Feelings aren't really my thing, but I know that honestly is always good." He searches my face for a moment. _Oh no, if he doesn't stop talking now this is it for me. Calm down, Casey, you're going to hyper ventilate. Breathe. Look at him._

_How do I tell him that I can't ever do anything serious after he basically pours his heart out to me? This was supposed to just be fun. No one was supposed to get hurt._ _Just tell him the truth._ "I like you too Derek." _What?_ _Oh boy, you're a special kind of stupid aren't you?_

He smiles at me. _Tell him now you idiot. _"I feel like I need to tell you something first though." I tell him about the night that my father left and the months of my mother crying and being barely able to function. Of Lizzie asking where our Daddy was. Of not seeing my father except for maybe twice a year. I tell him that it's hard for me to put myself out there because I can't and won't take that kind of pain from anyone. He chuckles and I snap my head over to him. "I'm sorry, none of that was funny. But I'm not asking you to marry me Casey. It's ok to have fun and see where something goes."

I nod at him, and then something catches my eye over the hill; sunrise. I let go of his hand and stand up. "I need to go _now_, my mom will be waking up for work any minute." He hops off his swing and takes my hand and we walk back to my house. When we get to the drive way I check my phone 6:20! We were at the park talking for over four hours. My mom will be waking up in ten minutes. He starts to walk me to my door but I stop him at the edge of the drive way. "I don't want to wake her up." He nods and then leans over and gently kisses my cheek I close my eyes as his lips touch my skin. "Good night," I whisper. "Good _morning_," he says pointing to the sky I smile and watch him walk a block down and get into his car and leave.

I turn towards my house and quietly open the door and sneak back up to my room. As soon as I close my door I hear my mom's alarm go off.

**Thanks for the reviews I have so far. I look forward to reading more *hint hint* to those that are keeping up with the story but haven't reviewed yet please do!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **_Still don't own LWD. This is just for fun._

CHAPTER 5

It's almost noon by the time I wake up, I roll out of bed and go into the bathroom and shower. I go down stairs and pour a bowl of cereal, then I head into the living room and flip on the TV. Lizzie comes in after a few minutes and sits next to me. I try to ignore her because I can feel her staring at me, finally after five minutes I can't take it. I turn to her and shout "What?" At her making her jump. I smile at her. "So Derek seemed nice," I look at her from the corner of my eye. "Uh huh…" I take another bite of my cereal. "You were out late last night," she says casually. I spit out some of my cereal. "What are you talking about?" I lie. She rolls her eyes at me. "Oh please, my bed room is right next to yours. So, where did you go?" she looks at me expectantly. I feel the blush start to rise on my cheeks. "We went for a walk, to that little park down the street." "Ooh," she says trying and failing to wiggle her eyebrows. I throw a small pillow at her. "Oh shut up, we just talked." Lizzie doesn't speak, she just looks at me, waiting for me to continue. "I told him everything. It was so strange, it felt like I had known him all my life and it wasn't weird to tell him all of that stuff." "So, do you think you scared him off?" I laugh. "I don't think so, but I guess we'll find out."

I'm cleaning up down stairs and doing laundry when Lizzie tells me that my phone has been beeping. I put the laundry basket down at the bottom of the stairs and go into my room. I grab my phone and see that I have three new messages

_"Good afternoon." _ I look at the piece of paper I wrote Derek's number on and the number from the text message matches it. I can't help but smile. I scroll to the next message _"Lunch?" _I chuckle and scroll to the next one. _"Ice cream not included." _ I can feel myself starting to blush. "I take it you didn't scare him away?" Lizzie asks from my door way. For a moment I don't think I can speak. How is it possible to like someone so much after only knowing them for 24 hours?

I smile, "I guess not." Lizzie smiles. "Well, what does he want?" She asks jumping next to me on the bed. "He wants to go to lunch." Lizzie bumps my arm with hers. "Are you going to go?" I think for a minute, a smiles breaks on my face. "I think I am," Lizzie smiles back at me. "Bring me back something." She says hoping off my bed and then walking down the hall.

I grab my phone to text Derek. _"Well it just so happens that I am rather hungry ;)" _And hit send, it takes less than a minute for him to reply._  
"See you in 20."_ I jump up and before I can stop myself I do a little dance around my room. I start digging through all of my boxes to find something to wear. I settle on a tank top styled white sundress and a pair of brown boots, I run to the bathroom and curl my hair real quick. I have just enough time to tell Lizzie that I won't be gone long and to call me if she needs anything. "Will you just get out of here?" She says playfully shoving me.

When the doorbell rings I already know who it is, but I sneak a peek out of the peephole anyway. _Derek_. I am not exaggerating when I say that I can feel my heart skip a beat when I see him, I turn around and Lizzie is standing in the doorway to the kitchen. I quietly motion to myself, silently asking her how I look, she smiles and gives me a thumbs up. I take a deep breath and open the door.

Derek's eyes widen when he sees me and he slowly releases the breath he was holding, I smile. "Wow, you, uh, you look… Beautiful." He says smiling. I shut the door behind me, and step closer to him. "Thank you, I need to be back by four," He smiles and nods and then kisses my cheek. I look into his eyes and bite my lip, this kid was smooth.

He takes my hand and leads me to his car, he opens the door for me and I get in, once I'm settled he closes the door. I take a deep breath and let it out, I fix the skirt of my dress and he slides into the car.

I look over at him, he sees me out the corner of his eye and he grabs my hand and kisses it. _Butterflies._ "So," I say when my stomach calms a little. "Where are you taking me?" "There's a small park with a pond, I thought we could have a picnic." He says nodding to the back seat. I look back there, there's a bag of sandwiches and soda. I lean my head back on the seat. "That sounds nice," He winks and squeezes my hand.

The next thing I know that car has stopped and Derek is touching my cheek; I had fallen asleep. I sit up, embarrassed. "Oh I'm sorry," I say wiping my face to make sure I wasn't drooling. He laughs quietly. "Don't be, you're cute when you're sleeping. You were talking though." I can feel the color drain from my face. "Oh gosh, what did I say?" "That I was the most sexy and handsomest guy you've ever met," I roll my eyes at him. "Just kidding, but you did whisper my name a few times. What _were _you dreaming of?" He says raising his eyebrow.  
_Oh my gosh, I said his name while I was sleeping? I don't remember dreaming anything. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Geez Casey you really are a dummy.  
_I must have had a strange look on my face, he smiles at me. "You can tell me later." He says kissing my forehead.

We get out of the car and Derek gets the stuff from the back seat, he walks over to me and holds out his hand, taking his hand when offered is already an automatic response. The sun is bright so we set up the blanket under a large tree in the shade. Derek sits against the tree and I sit next to him, after a minute I feel him wrap and arm around my waist and pull me in to his side. We eat in silence, and surprisingly it's a very comfortable silence. I can hear his heartbeat and I can hear him quietly breathing.

I had just finished my sandwich when I see that there is a playground on the other side of the pond. I very suddenly have the urge to go and play, I turn around and get up on my knees. Derek looks confused. "Do you want to go play?" I say pointing to the playground. Derek gives me a mischievous grin, he grabs my wrist and knocks me over on the blanket. "Race you!"

I quickly get on my feet and chase after him. "You cheater!" we both reach the monkey bars at the same time, at opposite ends. We both grin and jump up and start swinging to each other. We're about 5 rungs away from each other when Derek makes a face. "You know, you probably shouldn't be playing on the monkey bars in that cute little dress. A gust of wind might come along and you'll be showing the whole park your underwear." He says smiling at me. I give him a sly smile. "Who says I'm wearing any?" His face goes blank and he drops from the monkey bars and pretends to faint. I let go and walk over to him. He looks up at me in a mock daze. "You really shouldn't say those things when I am dangling 50 feet in the air." He collapses again, I roll my eyes at him. "Our feet were almost touching the ground." I say smiling at him. "Just to put my mind at ease, maybe you should just show me. You know, so if the wind picks up I know if I need to look away." He says smiling up at me.

_I can't believe I'm going to do this. _ My underwear is nothing fancy, just black bikini cut. I stand up look around and lift up the side of my dress, but he can only see the band of my underwear. His eyes bug out and he pretends to pass out again, I laugh. He doesn't move. I couch down next to him and nudge his chest. Nothing. "Derek," I whisper. Nothing. I lean down to his ear and say his name again. Nothing. I raise my head and lightly brush my lips against his. His eyes snap open and he wraps his arms around me, I break away from the kiss but he just starts to laugh and rolls us a few feet before landing on top of me. "Well, what do we have here?" He has a look in his eye that I know can't be good. "Derek, no." I say trying not to laugh. "No?" he asks sounding confused, then he smirks. "Derek!" And before I can get away from him he is tickling me. I squirm and wiggle trying to get out from under him but that just makes him laugh and tickle me more. I am laughing so hard that my stomach starts to hurt. He finally stops, he leans down and kisses me. I reach up and put my hand on his cheek. He pulls away and sighs bringing out his phone and shows it to me, 3:30. "Time to get the princess home before she turns into a pumpkin." I laugh. "Her carriage turned into a pumpkin," He smiles at me. "I knew that." He gets off of me and helps me stand up. I have grass and dirt on my dress so he helps me dust it away. I pretend not to notice that he is only making sure my _backside_ is clean.

I help him pack up and we walk back to his car. He opens the car door for me again. _I could get used to this_.

As we drive he rests his hand on my knee and I draw patterns on the back of his hand with my finger. And all too quickly we pull in my driveway. I am surprised by the sudden feeling of anxiety, I don't want to be away from him. I don't like the feeling of knowing he won't be next to me in five minutes. He puts his hand on my arm and I realize that he has been talking to me. "Sorry, what?" He smiles. "I said I'd like to see you tomorrow." I nod my head. He puts a finger under my chin. "Are you ok?" I shake my head 'no' and sigh, I don't know why I am getting so emotional I've only known Derek for _two days_. "Case, what's wrong?" I take a deep breath. "I'm just not ready to say goodbye." I say shrugging. Derek wraps me in a hug and kisses all over my face before giving me a quick kiss on my lips. "We'll see each other tomorrow, ok?" I nod my head. I lean back over the seat and kiss him one more time trying to savor it and then get out of the car and walk to my door. I look back at him before I go inside and he waves and blows me a kiss. I pretend to catch it and blow him one back. I sigh and then push the door open and go inside.

**Thanks for reading the latest chapter! I can't wait to write more and get it up. I hope you like the next chapter, There will be a surprise! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **_Thanks for sticking with me. I promised a surprise, I hope I delivered!_

CHAPTER 6

Lizzie is sitting on the counter drinking some juice, she laughs at me. "What?" I ask defensively. "Your face," my hands fly to my face and I start to feel it. "What's wrong with my face?" I say. She laughs again. "You had the stupidest look on your face when you walked in the door." "I did not," I snort. "You really like him don't you?" I wildly nod my head 'yes' I hear the front door close. "Like who Casey?" Lizzie jumps off the counter and runs over to our mother who has her hands full of grocery bags. "Casey has a boyfriend!" I give her a look that I hope she takes as _"shut your mouth."_ She sticks her tongue out but doesn't say anymore. My mom doesn't notice our interaction, she puts the bags she was carrying on the counter. And then she turns to me. "Boyfriend huh?" "It's no big, I met him the other day." My mother smiles and then looks at Lizzie. "Is he cute?" Lizzie starts to speak, I put my hand over her mouth. "I don't want to talk about it mom." "Ooh, well sorry." She says exaggerating the 'o' in 'sorry' She lets out a breath. "Case could you help me get dinner started?" "Sure,"

My mom is cooking hamburger meat and I'm chopping onions when the phone rings; it was silly of me to get excited thinking it might be Derek, he has my cellphone number. He wouldn't be calling the house. My mom points to the skillet with the meat and she gets the phone. I go over and continue to cook the meat. "Hello?" Her mood changes. "Oh hi, Dennis. Lizzie? Yeah, she's right here, hold on." She puts her hand over the receiver. "It's your dad," Lizzie looks nervous, but takes the phone. "Hi dad," She listens to him speak for a minute. Her face starts to get read and it contorts into a grimace as she tries to hold back the tears. I look over at my mom who looks sullen. "I understand dad," Her voice squeaks. "Yeah, I'll talk to you later, bye." She hangs the phone up and stands there for a second. "He was just calling to say that he can't make it to my dance tomorrow." My mom moves toward her. "Oh Lizzie," She says reaching her hand up to touch her face, Lizzie backs up and runs up the stairs. My mom starts to cry. "Mom, why would dad be going to her dance? How does he even know about it?" I ask accusingly. She looks over at me. "I called him when I found out about it." "You what?" I say louder than I meant to. "Mom, we haven't seen him in two years! Why would you call him?" I can't control my voice now. "I'm sorry, he is still your father and if there's a chance for him to be there for you two I want to give it to him." "Well Lizzie and I haven't needed him for two years, and we aren't going to start needing him now." I say running up to Lizzie's room.

Her door is shut but unlocked, I push it open; she is laying curled up facing the wall, I walk over and sit on the bed next to her. She turns when she feels the bed dip down, her eyes are red and puffy. I reach out and wipe her tears away. "You want to talk?" I ask playing with her hair.

She sits up, "I just don't know why I let myself get excited when he calls. When he called the other day and said that he would be in town and that mom told him about my soccer camp dance and he wanted to take me, I should have known that he would bail on me. I mean, isn't that what he does?" She wipes away a stray tear. "He hasn't really seen us since he left. Did you know that he got engaged three months ago?" She says bitterly. "Who told you that?" "He did when he called me the other day. Her name is _Vanessa_ and she teaches yoga in Toronto." She says in a stereotypical teenage girls voice while twirling her hair. "So she's young then?" "She's twenty three." She says laughing, she reaches behind her and grabs a tissue and blows her nose.

I should be angry that he's getting married again. And I should be really pissed that I had to hear about it from my sister. But I'm not. I actually have no feelings about this at all. It's almost like we're talking about a stranger.

"Oh my gosh, what if they have kids?" I ask Lizzie, she snorts. "Why do we care, we'd never see them." She climbs under her blankets, I stand up and head to the door. "Don't go yet, stay until I fall asleep?" Suddenly she isn't fourteen anymore, she's just a baby who lost her dad. I can feel my eyes start to sting as tears try to push their way though, I blink them back. "Of course," and I climb into bed with her.

I hold Lizzie and stroke her hair while she falls asleep. I see her door open and my mom walks over to the bed. "How she doing?" "She's fine, listen mom I'm sorry I yelled at you, it's not your fault that Dennis is a bastard." She makes a face, she always hates it when I swear. And she was never found of me calling my dad by his first name, like he deserved some kind of respect. "Sorry, I know you were only trying to help." My mom brushes some hair off of my forehead. "I'm sorry, I won't do that again." She kisses mine and Lizzie's foreheads. "Goodnight," "Goodnight mom,"

Once I'm back in my room I can't stop pacing, I just can't believe my father. If he didn't want to see us why even bother pretending to try? My hands are balled into fists and I'm having a hard time controlling my breathing. I grab my phone and call the only person I know will make me feel better. "Hello?" Derek says sounding groggy. I look over at my alarm clock, midnight. "I'm sorry did I wake you?" "No I'm up," He yawns. I suddenly feel like this was a bad idea, He doesn't want to be involved in my family's problems. "Casey, is everything ok?" I can't stop myself, I start crying and I can't breathe. "Casey," He pleads. "Can you come over?" I manage between sobs. "I'll be right there," and then he hangs up.

It seems like we just got off the phone when I see his headlights round the corner, he stops about a block away and I can see him run to my house. I go down stairs as quickly and as quietly as I can and open the door. He crashes into me and envelops me into a tight bear hug. He pulls away and cups my face, searching my eyes. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" He whispers. I take his hand and lead him up to my room and close the door. "Casey?" he says in the dark. "Will you stay with me tonight?" I ask quietly. He finds me in the darkness and hugs me. "Absolutely," He says into my hair. I crawl into my bed and lay as close to the wall as I can so he has room. He takes his jacket off and hangs it on the back of my door and gets in the bed next to me. I rest my head on his chest and he puts both of his arms around me. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to, but I'm here." I start to cry again. He rubs my arm. "Shh, it's ok." He says quietly. "It's my dad; I guess he promised that he would take Lizzie to her soccer camp dance tomorrow night. He called and cancelled on her. I am just so tired of him hurting her. She's a sweet kid, Derek. She deserves a dad who cares about her." I start to cry again. "You know he's getting married again?" I scoff. "I had to hear about it from Lizzie. She's _fifteen_ years younger than him," Derek kisses the top of my head. "And she teaches yoga for crying out loud! Couldn't he have found a woman more… Original?" I feel Derek shrug under me, he hasn't stopped rubbing my arm. I'm quite for a while, he continues to rub my arm with one hand but then starts to play with my hair with his other hand. "I think I love you, Casey." He takes a deep breath and holds it, I don't know what to say; I search my mind for what to say. How _do_ I feel? I know that I have never felt so real with a guy before. I literally can tell him anything without being afraid. I called him about my dad instead of calling my friend Holly back home. "I think I love you too, Derek." He lets out the air he was holding and kisses my nose, he pulls me in closer and I fall asleep listening to the sound of his heart beating.

I wake up to the sound of my mom's alarm clock beeping; Alarmed, I roll over to wake Derek up, but he isn't there. There's a piece of paper on my bed. I flick my desk lamp on to read it-

_"Tell Lizzie that I would be honored to take her to her dance- Derek." _  
I hold his letter to my chest, and I know I'm done for.

**Oh the feels! PLEASE, PLEASE review! New readers, current readers I love getting feedback. :) I've had someone ask if I could do a scene from Derek's POV when he leaves to take Lizzie to her dance. I will try my hardest to make that work. I was wanting to do each of their POV but wasn't sure how it would pan out. Thanks YaleAceBella12 for the input, I appreciate it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ** _Sorry it took me so long to update I wasn't able to get to a computer this weekend. As I said in the beginning I aged Casey, Derek, Lizzie and Edwin, but I am keeping Marti at around the same age. I need her childlike innocence later in the story :)  
__Also I think that now I have established Casey's Story I am going to incorporate Derek's POV more. I hope it doesn't get confusing and you like it! _

CHAPTER 7

**Derek**

I am in my room getting dressed in a _suit_, a _suit!_ I don't do suits; I see Casey smiling at me in my mind, I can do suits.

It has been four days since I met Casey McDonald, but I couldn't be more in love with her if I had known her for twenty years. When I stayed at Casey's house and she let me into her world it was very scary for me. I have never liked a girl so much that I was willing to be there when they needed someone to let them cry; my chest starts to ache at the memory of her whole body shaking with sobs, I need to hold on to the wall for a minute.

I steady myself and look in the mirror, I had to borrow a suit from my dad; the one in my closet doesn't for me anymore, that's how long it's been since I've worn a suit. It smells like _lawyer_; but I make it look good.

"Good God, are you really doing this?" I look over at Edwin standing in my doorway. I roll my eyes at him, "Doing what?" "Taking some girl's sister to a dance," "She's not some girl Edwin," I says fixing the collar on the jacket. "I really like her," Edwin looks at me with a puzzled look, "Wow," I nod my head at him and he leaves.

I put my shoes on and go downstairs to the kitchen, my dad has his back to me at the stove, I clear my throat. He looks at me and his eyes widen, "Looking sharp son," he says with a whistle. Edwin shakes his head, "What?" "You know what," he says sitting at the counter next to me.

"So, is this getting serious?" my dad asks putting a piece of chicken on a plate and then handing it to me. "I could see it getting serious," my dad looks at me for a while, ages, he smiles. "When can we meet this wonderful girl who has made my son wear a suit? And to take her sister to a dance?" Edwin starts laughing, I elbow him in the gut and he chokes on his chicken for a second. "Yeah, yeah, Casey is going too. Her dad is M.I.A. and her sister feels bad so I thought I would take her." "Well, I am impressed. You better hold on to this one," My dad beams at me. "I intend to," and I can't stop the smile from reaching my lips, and I don't want to. What has this girl done to me?

"Smerek!" I turn around to brace for Marti who is running at me full speed. I reach down and scoop her up and twirl around with her, she giggles and pretends to push me away. My Smarti. "Hey Smarts," I say tickling her. "Are you going to see your girlfriend?" She whisper yells in my ear, I spin her around one more time and set her on the chair I was on. "Yeah," I say smoothing her hair. "I want to meet her, Smerek." She says with a pouty face and crossing her arms. "Soon, Smarti."

"So about this sister of hers," Edwin says, "She's too good for you," I tell him and pat his head. He bats it away and I pretend to punch him in the arm. I look over at my dad, "I'll be meeting them at Sam's house, and I'll probably stay there tonight." My dad raises an eyebrow, "At Sam's house," his face relaxes and he nods his head.

I get to Sam's house and go inside, Sam and Emily are sitting on the couch together, their legs a twisted mess. It is still so weird to see them together. Emily looks at me and whistles, I sit next to them on the couch. They both turn, Emily looks at me; this girl has always been able to read me. "Spill it," she says letting go of Sam's hand. "Spill what?" I ask confused. "About Casey, What's going on here?" "I like her." I say trying to avert my eyes but Emily's stare won't let me look away. "Mmm hmm," she says. "What?" I ask getting nervous. "Just say it out loud, you'll feel better." I sit there for a second looking at her, she isn't going to drop this. I let out a defeated groan, "Alright, I love her. Happy now?" Emily smiles and turns back to the TV, Sam however can't seem to look away from me, "Wow," he says.

**Casey**

After I help Lizzie with her hair I follow her downstairs, mom is at the door and starts snapping pictures effectively blinding us with the flash, I put my hand over my eyes "Mom! Enough already." Lizzie says. "I'm sorry, but you girls look so pretty," Mom says starting to tear up. Lizzie gives an impatient sigh. "They'll be more dances mom," I say slowly taking her camera from her and setting it on the counter.

"So is your boyfriend…." She pauses waiting for me to fill in the blank. "… Derek." I say. She smiles. "Derek, is he picking you up?" Her smile brightens. "No, we're meeting him at his friend's house." I say fixing my dress. "When are you going to let me meet him?" she says tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, "I don't know mom, it's still new." She nods her head

We pull up to the address that Derek gave me and walk to the door, I am just about to knock when a breathless Derek opens the door. "Ready?" he says grabbing me hand and dragging me to the car, I stop walking. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" I say gesturing back to the door where a boy and girl stand. Derek sighs and we walk back to the house.

"Casey, this is Sam and Emily; Sam, Emily this is Casey and her sister Lizzie." Lizzie steps forward and shakes their hands, I do the same when it's my turn. The girl, Emily smiles warmly at me. "Nice to meet you Casey." "Nice to meet you," I say returning her smile. Derek huffs and grabs my hand. "Alright, see you later." I look back at Emily who is waving, "You crazy kids have fun!" She shouts from the door. "Yes, mommy." Derek calls over his shoulder.

Derek opens the door me Lizzie and I, I let him drive us to the hotel where Lizzies dance is being held.

We walk inside, music is playing and food is everywhere. I look around the room and in typical junior high fashion boy are on one side of the room and girls are on the other, no one is dancing. Derek holds his hand out to Lizzie, she takes it and he kisses my check and leads her to the middle of the room. When the boys and girls see that they're dancing boys slowly start to wonder over to the girls and take their hands and lead them to the dance floor.

After two songs a boy touches Derek's shoulder and cuts in, I have never seen Lizzie smile so big in her life. Derek grabs my hand and twirls me to the middle of the floor, it's a slow song so he holds me close; I close my eyes and listen to his heart beating. I look up at him and he smiles, I kiss his lips softly. "I think I love you, Derek Venturi," I say winking at him, he smiles. "I think I love you too, Casey McDonald." He kisses my nose and then my mouth.

At the end of the dance all of the coaches remind the kids that there will be a game next Friday, and then it's time to leave.

When we get out to the car Derek says that he'll take us out for dessert. He pulls into the lot of the small diner where we met, I squeeze his hand.

We get our dessert, mine a hot fudge sundae, Lizzie just a simple ice cream cone and Derek gets a banana split; We sit and listen to Lizzie tell us about all of the boys she danced with and a few of the girls she met. Some of the boys and girls she met will be going to school with her in the fall and that a few of the girls invited her to go to the mall with them tomorrow. I see something move out of the corner of my eye, I look up and see a beautiful statuesque blonde standing at the end of our table. I look at her, she is staring daggers at Derek. I look to my right and try to make eye contact with him, but he is staring at the blonde girl like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Hi Derek, haven't seen you in a while," she says sweetly, then she looks at me and then back to Derek. "Flavor of the week?" she asks gesturing to me. I look over to Derek who is about to speak before the blonde cuts him off. "Listen, when Derek," she says his name with venom. "Breaks your heart, you can call me, we have a support group." She looks back to Derek and then back to me, "Maybe we could be friends," She forces a smile and then walks briskly out of the diner.

I look up at Lizzie who is staring out the window. My face is on fire, I feel so embarrassed. I look to Derek who looks at me dumbfounded.

I decide to drive, the ride is long and silent. I pull up to my house and Lizzie gets out. "Tell mom I'll be home after I drop Derek off," Lizzie nods and thanks Derek for tonight. "No problem, kiddo." He says trying to smile at her.

We drive to Sam's house in a strained silence, I pull into the drive way and kill the engine. "Casey," Derek whispers, I snap my head in his direction and he jumps a little. "So is this how it's going to be? I know you have a past when it comes to girls and I'm ok with that," I look into his eyes, "I am however, not ok with your past walking over and insulting me." Derek reaches for my hand and I let him take it, I want to be mad at him, I want to be mad at him so bad. I look into his eyes and it just melts away.

"Casey, I have done a lot of stupid things when it comes to girls. I haven't always treated them right, I wish I would have, it might make things easier on you. I'm sorry that I haven't been the greatest when it comes to dealing with girls, and I'm sorry that my mistakes are now effecting you now." He kisses my hand and looks into my eyes. "I love you, Casey."

I can't breathe for a second, this is the first time he has said he loves me without using the protection of saying 'I think' first. And suddenly my world is falling apart, I can't breathe and I can't speak. _Why did he have to go and fall in love with me? Why did I let myself fall in love with him? _This is going to end badly and one of us is going to get hurt.

Derek brushes the tears off of my face, I didn't even know I was crying. "What's wrong?" he asks holding my face. I look down and whisper the words I never wanted to say to a boy- "I love you too." And that brings on another round of sobbing. Derek puts is hand under my chin and forces me to look at him. "Is loving me really that terrible?" he asks unable to mask the hurt in his voice. "Yes! Don't you understand Derek? Love never works, one of us is going to get hurt here," Derek grabs me and squeezes me in his arms tightly. "Just because things didn't work with your parent's doesn't mean that _you_ can't be happy." He loosens his hold on me and holds both of my hands. "I just love you so much already Derek, and that absolutely terrifies me!" I choke out. "Casey, don't you think that this is scary for me too? I have never had a girlfriend that I could actually see myself for longer than a week," "We've only known each other for four days." I say with a laugh, Derek wipes my cheeks. "I know that Casey; you're the only girl that I can't see myself without. Even when I was with other girls I couldn't wait to just go hang out with my friends; you're all I need right now." He says kissing my hands and then my lips. "I'm sorry, this is all so new to me. I never intended for this to happen," I say, he turns his head away from me slightly. I grab his chin and turn his head to face me. "But I'm glad it's happening with you." I kiss him and we hold each other for a long time.

My phone vibrates in my purse, "That's probably my mom, I should go." Derek nods and holds my face and kisses me, he puts his forehead on mine and looks into my eyes. "I love you," he says with a steady voice. "I love you too,"

I walk into the house and my mother is waiting for me in the kitchen. "So how was it? Lizzie seemed to have had fun," "It was great mom, but I'm tired, I'll see you tomorrow ok?" she smiles at me and gives me a hug and kisses the top of my head.

I go up to my room and lay on my bed, not bothering to change my clothes. My phone beeps next to my head on the pillow, I flip it open. _"Goodnight, princess." "I love you." _I send back. _"I love you too."_

**Whew getting heavy here! I hope I can get the next chapter up by tomorrow. Please review! And thank you to the few people who are following this story, you guys rock!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **_ SO SO SO sorry it took me so long to update. Here is chapter 8!_

CHAPTER 8

It has been a few weeks since Derek took Lizzie to her dance, Emily and I have become really good friends. My mom insisted that she come over for dinner tonight, to get information about Derek I'm sure. But Emily knows that I am not ready for my mom to know too much about Derek, she won't crack under pressure.

Emily has just arrived and my mother is already assaulting her with questions. "So how long have you known Derek?" "I have lived next door to him since the fourth grade." Emily replies with a smile. "Well, my daughter doesn't tell me these things; does he play any sports?" Emily looks at me, that question was one that I didn't want her to answer. School would be starting in a few weeks and I don't need mom snooping around trying to see him.

"Would you like to answer that one Case?" Emily asks taking a bite of her salad and winking at me. "Mom, I will tell you everything you want to know about Derek when I am ready to, until then can't you just know that he is a good guy and that I really like him?" My mother grumbles taking a drink of her water.

After dinner Emily and I go up to my room, she flops on my bed and sighs. "I am SO full!" She says rubbing her belly. I sit down next to her and she swings her legs on to my lap. This is how our friendship has been since the beginning; absolutely no personal space when it comes to Emily. I don't mind it, it's been so nice to have a friend here. I haven't talked to anyone from back home since we got here.

"So, you and Derek huh?" I roll my eyes. "What?" "You say that all the time," I say to her. She sits up. "I can't help it, it's so weird. Derek doesn't date, I mean seriously that is. It's nice." I smile at her, this last month and a half has been amazing, I don't know how I would have adjusted to being here if I didn't have Derek. "It is weird, I have never felt about a boy the way I feel about Derek. It's only been a month and a half but I've honestly been in love with him since we went on that walk that first night." Emily smiles at me and I can feel myself blush, "What?" "If you guys are so serious why can't you let your mom meet him?" I sigh and push her legs off of me and stand up and pace around my room, Emily keeps her eyes on me. "It's not that I don't want her to meet him, I'm afraid for her to meet him. You see how crazy she is wanting to know everything about him. She'd scare him off." Emily flops back on my bed dramatically and then sits back up again. "Derek loves you Case, he is crazy about you; there is no way your mom would be able to scare that boy away."

There's a soft clink on my window and I smile before I can stop myself, I know its Derek. Emily scrambles off of my bed and meets me at the window. "No way, how adorable is this?"

I open the window and Derek smiles up at me. Breathe. Don't forget to breathe. I don't know what it is about his smile that makes me forget the most basic things; the other day he was over and I was pouring a soda and he smiled at me and I ended up over filling the cup. He just puts me in a daze. "Good evening ladies," "Hi Derek," Emily says. "Emily, would you mind if I borrowed my girlfriend for a moment, I promise not to keep her long." He winks at me, Emily tries to stifle a giggle, she lightly pushes my shoulder. "Go," I go downstairs and my mom is helping Lizzie with something in the living room, I slip out the door. Derek is standing in front of my mom's car hidden from the front door. I walk over to him and throw my arms around his neck and he kisses me. "Are you crazy? My mom is still awake." I say pulling away slightly but still holding him. "I needed to see you again," He says kissing my forehead and giving me a smirk. "So is that the only reason you have me sneaking around, kisses?" Not that I mind, but I won't let him know that. "Yes, but I wanted to ask you something, apparently I talk about you too much and it's annoying the siblings, so they want to meet you." I can feel my cheeks get hot. "Really?" I say with a big smile, "So my dad will be on an overnight business thing and I thought you could come over for dinner," he says while running a hand over my back giving my skin goose bumps. "Ooh, are we still sneaking around?" Derek nods. "I like it," I say standing on my tip toes to kiss his lips. "Tomorrow at five? You can bring Lizzie, Edwin really wants to meet her." I laugh "Well, if he is anything like you maybe it's best if she stays home." I feel Derek's body shake with low laughter. "Maybe," he says. "Should we bring anything?" "Nope, just yourself." I reach up and touch his forehead with my thumb and run my finger over his eyebrow. He leans down and kisses me.

"So what did Lover Boy want?" Emily says putting down a magazine. "His brother and sister want to meet me," "Wow, that's big. I mean if Marti is showing interest you're in, Derek is a big deal to her, and if she likes you you're golden."

**Derek**

"So how much are you paying this girl to go out with you? Because I don't get it, she's just a girl." Edwin says gesturing to the pans on the stove, he rolls his eyes and resumes cleaning the counter. "I really don't know how many times I have to tell you Ed, Casey is different. I think I could end up marrying this girl," Edwin pretends to shoot himself in the head. "Get back to work," I say.

Dinner is almost done, I haven't seen Marti in a while. "How you doing Smarti?" I ask loudly. I feel something brush against my leg and look down, Marti is crawling on the floor brushing her face on my pant leg. Marti has been pretending to be a cat for the better part of the year. I bend over and scoop her up. "Are you going to be a cat tonight or do you think Casey can meet the cute little girl that I know is in there somewhere?" Marti purrs and rubs her face on my shoulder, I can't help but laugh, "Yeah I thought so," I set her back down and go back to the stove. "Are you don't yet? Because the bathroom is disgusting." Edwin doesn't respond. "Go. Clean. The. Bathroom." I say. He throws the sponge in the sink and goes to the bathroom.

**Casey **

We somehow managed to get out of the house without my mother making a big fuss over us going to dinner at Derek's house. "You really need to let her meet him soon, she's driving me crazy." "Sorry, I will soon."

We pull into Derek's driveway and walk up to the door and I knock. Derek opens the door, "Hi," he says with a smirk. "Hi," I say he leans down and kisses me. I look behind him and see a boy about Lizzie's age and a small girl standing by the kitchen. Derek sees that I have seen them and steps aside. We step further into the house and Derek shuts the door. Edwin saunters over to Lizzie. "Well hello there, the names Edwin." He says taking her hand and kissing it, Lizzie blushes momentarily and then takes her hand and hits the top of his head. "Get over yourself," She says. By the look on Edwin's face he is seeing stars and can't take his eyes off of Lizzie. "Nice to meet you Edwin," I say, "Uh huh, yeah you too." He says without looking at me.

A little girl peeks out from behind Derek. "And this is Marti," Marti skips around Derek and stops in front of me. "My name is Smarti not Marti," I couch down so I am level with her. "It's nice to meet you Smarti," "Meow," She says rubbing her face in my hair. I look up at Derek. "She's six," He says chuckling. I smile at Marti and stand up, Derek takes my hand and leads us to the dining room. He sits at the head of the table and I sit on his right, Marti on his left, Lizzie sits next to me and Edwin sits across from her. Edwin still has the same dopey look on his face as he scoops spaghetti on to his place with shaky hands. It's adorable.

Lizzie and Edwin talk about school and sports, Marti is playing with her food and Derek keeps looking at me funny. I wipe my face with a napkin, "What?" I ask him. He look uncomfortable, "What what?" he asks. "You were staring at me," "I was not," he says with a wave of his hand. "Yes you were," He puts his fork down. "No I was not," I put my hands on the table. "Yes you were," I realize that our faces are only inches apart. I straighten up and put my fork down and wipe my mouth before I stand up, as I walk behind Derek I touch his shoulder and walk to the bathroom. Derek is right behind me, he closes the door behind him. I shove him into the door and put my lips on his. He is tense at first but then relaxes and puts his arms around me. We kiss each other with urgency our hands in each other hair. Derek puts a hand on my back and slowly touches the exposed skin on my lower back and spins around so that my back is against the wall. I put my hand under his shirt and run it up and down his back. Derek moves my hair and starts to kiss my neck, I grab a handful of his hair; he moves back and kisses my mouth. His hand has just started to go under the front of my shirt when there's a small knock on the door.

We break apart quickly. "Smerek, I have to go to the bathroom," Marti says in a quiet voice. Derek opens the door and Marti looks at him then at me and then back to Derek. "What are you guys doing in here?" She asks with a look of confusion on her face. "Uh, uh," Derek says frantically looking around the bathroom, he opens the cabinet under the sink and pulls out a roll of toilet paper. "I was showing Casey where we keep the TP." He tosses it to me. "Here it is," "With the door closed?" she asks scrunching her face. "Yes," he says grabbing my hand and rushing out of the bathroom. We go back to the dining room and Edwin and Lizzie look at us and burst into laughter. "Make out hair much?" Lizzie says and Edwin high fives her. I my hands quickly go to my hair and try to fix it. Derek smirks and sits down. I sit down and try my hardest not to blush. We eat in silence but Derek and I steal glances at each other.

After dinner I can't stand the awkwardness and looks that Edwin and Lizzie throw our way. Derek can sense my uneasiness, he leans in and whispers in my ear, "If it would make you feel less uncomfortable it wouldn't hurt my feelings if you needed to go home." I give him a small smile. "I love you," Derek kisses my forehead. "I know," I pinch his arm. "Ow," he says, he kisses my lips. "I love you too." Edwin walks Lizzie to the car and they stop and talk. Derek holds my arm before I can walk outside. "Listen, I was talking to Sam and he was wanting to go on a trip to Wasaga Beach before school starts, it's going to be over night; Emily will be coming too, I would really like it if you came." "I'll talk to my mom," He walks me to the car and opens the door for me. I hug him tightly and kiss him.

When we get home I go upstairs to my mother's room, she is sitting on her bed looking over paper work, I knock on her open door. "Hey Case, how did dinner go?" I feel the blood start to rise to my cheeks remembering the bathroom. "It was fine, I think his brother has a crush on Lizzie." My mom smiles. "So mom I was wondering, Derek said that he and his friend Sam and Emily are planning a trip to Wasaga Beach soon and they want to know if I can come," I pause. "Over night," I say. She sucks in air. "I don't know Case, you won't let me meet Derek and you are never secretive." "I know mom, and I promise you will meet him soon," My mom seems to think for a minute. She sighs, "Fine," I run over and hug her. And go back to my room before she can change her mind.

**Sorry if the kissing scene seemed rushed, I am so not good at writing romantic stuff haha. But I can't wait to get the next chapter up! Thank you guys for sticking around :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** **Ok so this is REALLY long... It is also the last chapter (I'm sad!) but I promise there WILL be an epilogue and I should be able to get it up tonight or tomorrow or Monday at the latest. I really hope you have enjoyed this story I had fun writing it!**

Chapter 9

**Casey**

I dropped my bowl of cereal in the sink and ran up the stairs when I heard my phone ringing, the caller I.D. said 'Emily' "Hello?" "Hey Case," she sounded a little flustered. "What's wrong Em?" She sighed, "Sam and I can't go to Wasaga Beach," "What? Why?" I asked, "I'm really sorry, do you, do you think your mom will still let you go?" I didn't feel like arguing so I didn't point out that she hasn't answered my question. "There is no way she'll let me go if you guys aren't going too," I get an idea and my stomach twists in guilt but I push it down. "But she doesn't have to know," I say grinning. "Oh my, is my wittle Casey rebelling?" Emily says pretending to be shocked. "Oh shut up," I say laughing.

**Derek**

I have just stuffed the last of my clothes in my bag when my phone rings. I pick it up. "Hey, Derek." "Hey, Sam. What's up?" Sam exhales a large breath. "Emily and I can't come tomorrow." "Are you being serious right now?" I ask dropping my backpack on the ground. "Yeah, I'm really sorry dude," my phone beeps in my ear, "Hold on a second Sammy," I look at my phone and see that I have a message from Casey- _"I'm game if you are."_ I tell Sam what her message said and he laughs. "You better keep your mouth shut," I say trying to sound as threatening as possible. "Yeah, sure, ok." Sam says still laughing, I hang up on him.

**Casey**

My mom follows me out to the car, insisting on helping me with my backpack. "Ok, keep your phone on you, call me when you get there and when you guys leave." She pulls me in to a vise like grip. "Ok, mom," "Alright, I love you have fun."

**Derek**

Casey decided to pick me up at my house because it was closer to the highway, I am waiting at the curb because my dad is home and he's lurking in the windows trying to catch a glimpse of Casey like some kind of creep.

I see Casey's car turn on to my street and look back at my house, my dad has opened the door and is starting to walk toward me, I panic because he might see that she's alone in the car after I said that she would be picking up Sam and Emily at Sam's house first, I start running to her car. Casey's eyes widen when she sees me running at her and she stops in the middle of the road. I throw my bag in first and then get it. "Just go, my dad." I say pointing to my house, my dad is standing on the lawn looking dumbfounded. She makes a quick U-turn and then turns on to the main road.

"Sorry," I say leaning over and kissing her cheek. "My dad has been weird all morning, pacing back and forth in front of the windows." Casey laughs I look at her sideways. "My mom insisted on carrying my backpack to the car," I sigh. "Well it's nice to know that my dad isn't the only crazy one." Casey lightly punches my arm. "She's not crazy, she just likes to worry." "Oh well sorry, forgive me." I say leaning over and making kissy noises in her face and touching her hair, she laughs and pushes me away. "Trying to drive here," she says with a hint of laughter in her voice. I settle for holding her hand.

The drive should only take about three hours but so far Casey has demanded that we stop at everything along the way. Finally about an hour away from Wasaga Beach I decide that I'm going to drive. Casey protests, "Casey at this rate we'll get there at midnight." Casey huffs but pulls over

We get out of the car and switch seats, I have driven for a few minutes when I notice that Casey is very quiet; thinking I have upset her I look over at her and she's _blushing?_ She looks at me, "What?" "You're blushing," I say, she touches her cheek and giggles. "I was just thinking about something," I take her hand, "Thinking about what?" "When were in the bathroom at your house," She says squeezing my hand, looking at my seriously. I check the mirrors and then pull over quickly, as soon as I have taken my seatbelt off Casey has lunged at me and aggressively starts kissing me. I am helpless to do anything but kiss her back because she has me pinned against the door. Not that I want to stop her or anything, but it would be nice to be able to do something with my hands. Casey has shifted and she is now sitting on my lap, I put my arms around her and pull her closer. Casey's hands move down to my shirt and she starts to fiddle with the buttons. I put my hands on her hips and slowly start to lift her shirt. There's a loud tapping on the window and we both slowly look to the window and see a cop. I reach over and roll the window down. He looks from me to Casey and then leans in toward the window a bit. "What do you say we get things moving along here, huh?" "Uh, uh, yes, sorry officer." Casey says returning to her seat. The officer taps the door and then walks back to his car. I fix my shirt and then pull back onto the road. Casey starts roaring with laughter.

We finally pull in front of the hotel that I had booked yesterday, I take Casey's bag and my own and we walk inside. The man behind the counter looks between us with a look of suspicion. "Can I help you?" He asks looking at us through the bottom of his glasses. "Yes, reservations for Venturi." The guy taps a few buttons and then hands us two room keys. "Room 304, check out is at 11am." I take the room keys and try to ignore his look of smugness.

We lug our bags to the third floor and find our room, I slide the key in and open the door, revealing one bed.

_Shit._

**Casey**

I look at the single bed with shock, I look over at Derek who has the same look on his face. "I, I, uh, I swear when I booked the room there were two beds." I can't help but smile at his awkwardness, he puts his bag down and goes to the phone. "What are you doing?" I ask throwing my bag on the bed. "Calling the front desk to see if we can switch rooms," "It's not a big deal Derek, we've shared a bed before." "Yeah, but your mother was across the hall." I try not to smile at him. "I'm sure we can behave ourselves." "Really? Were you behaving yourself in the car just a bit ago?" He asks raising his eyebrow. I grab a pillow and throw it at him but he ducks out of the way and runs to the bed and tackles me.

"Der-ek!" I say trying to get out from under him, but he's strong and keeps me pinned to the bed. He leans forward and kisses me, I wrap my arms around his neck. He suddenly gets off the bed and extends his hand to me. "Hungry?" I take his hand, "Starving,"

We walk to a little greasy spoon down the street and get some food to go. Derek says he wants to build a fire at the beach and eat there, when we get back I forgot to put on my swim suit. I kiss Derek and run up to the room. "I'll meet you at the beach behind the hotel." He shouts to me. I go to the room and dig in my bag I pull out the bikini I bought with Emily yesterday, its pale yellow with white polka dots and has white lace trim on the bikini top. I put it on and throw my clothes over it.

By the time I find Derek on the beach he has built a pretty sizable fire, he has his back to me so I sneak up behind him and put my hands over his eyes. "Guess who?" I say trying to sound like a man. "Oh, Burt is that you?" He says turns around. He mocks disappointment, "Oh, it's just Casey." I raise my eyebrow "Oh, _'just Casey' _huh? Well '_just Casey'_ wants to go swim before _'just Casey'_ eats." I say unzipping my sweatshirt, I just have the bikini top on under it. Derek looks down and his whole body dips down like his legs aren't working, I slide my pants off and kick them to the side, Derek is still staring at me looking comatose; I put my hand under his chin and force him to look me in the eyes. "Does 'just Derek' want to go swimming?" Derek nods and frantically takes off his shirt.

**Derek**

I watch as Casey scampers down the beach in that little yellow thing that is barely classified as a swim suit. She stops just before her feet touch the water and turns back to wave to me. I can't move for a second if you know what I mean, I can't stop looking at her in that suit.

"Der-ek!" she shouts crossing her arms and pouting. God, I love it when she pouts. I close my eyes and will my body to relax. I run to her and she puts her arms out to embrace me but I don't slow down, I grab her and throw her over my shoulder, she is kicking and hitting my back with her fists but she is also laughing. When I am about waist deep in the water I throw her in. She stands back up quickly, but I see everything in slow motion; the smile on her face, the water dripping on her chest from her hair, adjusting her top. Before I can stop myself I grab her and kiss her, she puts her arms around my neck and then jumps up and wraps her legs around my waist. She slows her kisses and runs her fingers through my hair. I feel her smile while we kiss, I open my eyes and she lets go of me and then dunks me under the water. By the time I surface she is halfway to the shore.

I chase after her, when I am almost behind her she whips around and pushes me to the ground covering our wet bodies in sand. She sits on me and pins me to the ground, and gives me and evil grin. "Well, what do we have here?" I remember saying the same thing to her when I took her on that picnic, I know what is coming next. "Oh no you don't" I say trying to turn over, she puts all of her weight on me and smiles, her hands shoot to both sides of my stomach and she starts to tickle me. After a minute I am able to get out from under her, I stand up and give her my hand. She stands up and we go back to the fire that is starting to die. I throw some more wood on it and we start to eat.

**Casey**

We put the fire out after we eat and walk back to the room holding hands, we try our hardest to ignore the daggers the man at the front desk is shooting at us with his eyes. Once we get back to the room and get a look at ourselves in the bathroom mirror I understand why he was staring at us; we are absolutely caked in sand, I can hardly tell that my suit used to be yellow.

I turn around and get into the shower and turn it on, leaving my suit on. I open the curtain and Derek is trying to wash up in the sink. "Hey," he looks at me in the mirror. "Wash my back?" I ask winking at him. He slowly turns around and gets in the shower behind me. I face him and tilt my head back in the water, I put some shampoo in the palm of my hand and give him a small bar of soap. "This will probably be easier if we help each other," I say, he just kind of stares at. "Ok?" I say nodding my head up and down, Derek smiles and rubs the bar in his hands to lather it up. It was so cute watching him squirm like this, he's so cocky; but then put him in a situation like this and he has the mental capacity of a carrot.

I start to wash my hair and Derek starts to work the sand off of my legs, I can feel his hands shaking as he rubs my legs. I rinse out my hair when Derek starts to wash my stomach, he puts his hand on my chest for a second but then jerks it away. I chuckle and take the soap from him and clean off my chest. I give the soap back to him and turn around, I feel him nervously start to rub the soap on my back.

I rinse off and we change spots in the shower. While he is washing the sand out of his hair I get to work on his legs. _Why am I not freaking out like he is? It's not like I've done this before. _I glance up at him and he is washing his face. I stand up and get more soap on my hands and put my hands on his chest. He tenses up when I touch his skin, he opens his eyes and he looks terrified. I smile at him and kiss him lightly on the cheek, I spin him around and wash off his back.

"Ok, um, now…" I say stammering, I know that there is still a butt load of sand caught inside my bathing suit. Derek's face reddens, I think he knows what we have to do next.

I reach up and untie my top and take it off, he glances down and his eyes shoot up to the ceiling. We shuffle in the shower and I rinse my chest off as quickly as I can and clean my top off, I turn my head and look back at him, he is still looking up his, neck at an uncomfortable angle. I untie both sides of my bottoms and rinse off quickly, I look at him from the corner of my eye and see that he is stealing glances at me. I clean my bottoms off and throw my suit somewhat in the direction I know the sink to be. I reach out of the curtain and find a towel and wrap it around me and slip out of the shower, through the gap in the curtain I see Derek turn the water all the way to cold.

I run into the room and get dressed quickly and throw my wet hair in a bun. After a minute he comes out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, go grabs his bag and starts to walk to the bathroom. "What gives Venturi, you got to see mine but I can't see yours?" I try to say it seductively but it just comes out nervously. I was only joking, but then he looks at me and raises his eyebrow and me. As soon as I see his towel start to shift my hand flies up to my eyes, I hear the towel fall to the floor. "What gives McDonald, you can dish it but you can't take it?" I take my hand off my eyes and stare him in the eyes defiantly. _I will not look down._ But I do.

I can feel myself blush as I look away and get up and walk over to the window. I hear Derek shuffling around behind me, "It's ok, I'm decent now." I turn around and walk over to him. I need him to know that I do want to see him, _someday_. I take his hand but I am unable to look at him. "It's ok Case, I know you aren't ready." I look up at him. "I'm sorry for leading you on," His chest vibrates from the laugh he is trying to suppress. "Leading me on? Casey, we make out, that's what teenagers do. We might have gotten carried away a few times but I know you're not ready. And I wouldn't do anything I knew you didn't want to do." I look up at him. "Really?" I ask still feeling embarrassed, "Really," He says leaning down and kissing me. I look out the window at the setting sun. "Sit on the balcony with me?" I ask holding out my hand, he takes it and we walk out the sliding door.

We sit there long after the sun goes down, me sitting in his lap nestled into his neck and him with his arms around me. Every so often he rubs my back with one of his hands. "Ready for bed?" He asks, I nod into his shoulder. He scoops me up and carries me to the bed and helps me get under the blankets. He goes and shuts the glass door and walks back to the other side of the bed, he takes off his shirt so that he is only wearing his sweat pants. He climbs on the bed and I snuggle as close as I can to him and fall asleep immediately.

The sun is shining brightly in the room and I look around. Derek has his arm slung over my abdomen, I lightly kiss his nose. His eyes slowly open, "Good morning," He says sleepily. "Good morning," I say smiling at him. My phone starts to ring, I suddenly remember that I forgot to call my mom when we got here. "I'm sorry mom, I for-" She cuts me off. "Casey, I know that Sam and Emily didn't go to Wasaga Beach with you and Derek, I. Want. You. Home. Now." Then she hangs up. Derek is looking at me confused, "My mom knows that Sam and Emily didn't come with us, she wants us to leave now."

We slowly pack our things and check out of the room. Derek takes the long way home and I don't stop him, I'm in no hurry. In no time at all we pull up at Sam's house and he kisses me goodbye and I head to my house.

**Derek**

I walk home quickly, my dad is pacing in the kitchen. _Oh God, he knows. _I try to run up to my room before he can see me. "Derek! Good, you're home. Listen, I need you to change we're going out to dinner with Nora and her daughters." I roll my eyes. "I'd rather not, dad." "Derek," My dad says his voice getting quieter. "Derek, I've asked Nora to marry me, and she's said yes." "That's great dad," I say hugging him. I try to look happy, but I can only think about what kind of trouble Casey is getting in now.

**Casey**

I walk into the living room and see my mother positively ready to burst. Her face is red and she is pacing around the room. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" I look at the ground. "Are you crazy? Staying with a boy in a hotel by yourself?!" Her voice is getting louder. "Mom, nothing happened." She scoffs "Nothing happened? Is that supposed to make me feel better about you sneaking off with your boyfriend?" "Yes mom, it is! I know I did something stupid by lying to you but I'm not stupid enough to do something like _that_." My mother pinches the bridge of her nose. She usually does that when she is trying to stop herself from getting a migraine. "I don't have time for this now Casey, I need you to go upstairs and get changed we're meeting George and the kids in an hour." "Mom, I don't want to meet his kids." "Casey please," She looks up at me. "George asked me to marry him last night, and I said yes." Suddenly I am angry, but now isn't the time for it. I nod my head. "I'll meet you there, I'm going to Emily's."

I run out the door and get into my car and drive as fast as I can to Emily's. I try not to look at Derek's house as I walk up to her door. Emily opens it before I can knock. "So how much trouble are you in?" she asks when we get to her room. I flop on her bed. "I don't know, she seemed a little too preoccupied by her recent engagement." Emily gasps. "Shut up," Emily says with her hand over her mouth. "I should be happy for her right? George seems like a great guy." Emily looks at me for a second. "Wait, his name is George?" she asks her eyebrows knitting together. "Yeah, why?" "And he has a son named Derek?" "Yes, Emily, I thought you knew all of this already?" "Cas-" I look at my watch. "Shoot, I have to be at the restaurant in five minutes!" I jump off her bed and run down the stairs.

I pull into the parking lot and get out of the car, I am about fifty feet away from the door to the restaurant when I notice my mom talking to someone. She smiles in my direction and the person she is talking to turns around, it's Derek. I stop for a second, my mom points at me and then waves. Derek's face crumbles, I look a few feet away from Derek on his left and see Edwin and Lizzie sitting on a bench looking nervous. Then I see George and Marti come out of the restaurant. _I understand now._

George is Derek's father. The same man who wants to marry my mother. I walk a little slower. _Forty feet. _I find that I suddenly can't breathe, what are we going to do? Suddenly the world is going dark. _Thirty feet_. How can Derek and I continue to be together after our parents marry and we become… Step siblings? _Twenty five feet_. Would it be better to just pretend that Derek and I are meeting for the first time and then break it off later? Surely we can't stay together can we? My head is swimming. _Fifteen feet._ My heart is thumping. _Ten feet. _

I hear a shriek and it snaps me out of the fog, I look over and see Marti running to me; I squat down without giving it a second thought and brace myself for her. She slams into me and hugs my neck. I look over at my mom and she has a very confused look on her face. Marti lets me go and I stand up. She grabs me by the arm and proudly walks me over to the rest of them. "Nobody said Smerek's girlfriend was coming tonight!" She says beaming at me. I look over at Derek whose expression hasn't changed very much and then look over at my mom. She looks at me and then looks at Derek, who avoids her gaze. She looks back at me and blinks a few times. "Casey, _this_ is Derek?" She still looks stunned. _Here it is my moment of truth; do I deny Derek or do I fully allow myself to love him?_ I don't have to think for long.

I walk over to him and grab his hand, his cheeks blush when I touch him. "Mom," I say, she looks down at our hands and then back up to my face. "I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Derek." My mom breathes deeply and then smiles, she walks over and hugs Derek. "It's nice to finally meet you Derek." Even though she has seen him many times, I know what she means. Derek awkwardly puts one arm around her and lamely hugs her back.

George clears his throat, Derek turns us to face his father, who is smiling. "Dad, this is my girlfriend, Casey." He says squeezing my hand, seeming to get some life back into him. "It's very nice to meet you Casey," He says hugging my tightly, I too have seen George many times, but I understand this meeting is different. When he lets go of me I search his eyes, He seems genuinely happy for us. I look back at my mother who is giving us the same look.

"Well, shall we?" George says opening the door to the restaurant.

Derek squeezes my hand and kisses my cheek, and suddenly for the first time in a long time _EVERYTHING _ feels right.

_Alright there it is, my very first fanfic! As promised I will get to work on an epilogue as soon as I can. Please review and tell me what you think!_


	10. Epilogue

**A/N: Well here it is, the end. I hope you enjoy it. I have read my whole story so many times that I am starting to hate it so I'm kind of glad to be done with it. Please review and tell me what you think!**

Epilogue

I sit in front of the window watching the snow fall and drinking a cup of cocoa to pass the time before they will be home. My husband, our son and his lovely wife and their daughter, and I can't help but think back to some days that were so long ago but feel so fresh in my mind-

After George and my mother's wedding we moved into the Venturi's home, it was a huge adjustment for everyone. But it was harder for Derek and I, suddenly being thrown into a house together and then being expected us to keep our hands off each other? It was hard, but we made it until we got to college. Our life while we were in high school was easy, everyone knew our story so no one seen us as weirdos. It was simple.

College was a little harder- People would often ask how we met. We were honest with them and when we got to the part about our parents marrying a few people never looked at us the same way. But most were sympathetic.

Lizzie coming to me and eagerly telling me that Edwin had finally gotten wise and asked her out. It was easier for them, everyone had already known about Derek and me. Although, they weren't immune to criticism. Some girls would taunt Lizzie and she would march up to Edwin and kiss him firmly on the mouth in front of everyone. I wish I was as brave as she was.

My mother helping me get ready for my wedding. Her and Lizzie making such a fuss over my hair and makeup.

Walking down the aisle and Derek looking like he was going to faint.

FINALLY being able to say "I do,"

How nervous Derek and I were on our wedding night, so afraid we might do something wrong, even though this was not the first time we had been together.

The thrill of waking up every single morning knowing that I would have someone forever.

Watching Edwin clumsily propose to Lizzie; them clutching each other tightly as she said "Yes."

Watching George walk Lizzie toward Edwin and her new life.

The first moment I felt our baby stir inside of me, and knowing that I was never truly alone.

Seeing Derek hold our son for the first time. He cried. He denies it. But I have the pictures to prove it.

Seeing Lizzie with a large pregnant belly while Edwin looked terrified.

Our son walking for the first time.

George getting sick. And my mother following soon after.

Our sons first day of school. And the ache I felt in my chest when he said that he would be fine without me.

Taking pictures of our son before his first dance.

Watching my son get married

Holding my granddaughter for the first time.

I see the car pull up and I wait for the noise that is my family, Derek comes in first; I walk over to him and kiss him knowing we won't have a moment to ourselves for a week. He rubs my back as we watch our son help his wife and daughter bring their bags to the house. I hug our son tightly, kissing his cheek way more than he would normally allow me to. His wife steps in and I give her a warm embrace and touch her hair. Our granddaughter squeals and she rushes to Derek and then to me.

After we settle down after dinner and long after my granddaughter has gone to bed I sit and watch my family. The family I almost didn't allow myself to have. If I hadn't let Derek show me what love could truly be I wouldn't have this, the wonderful memories of my past would only be a 'what if' in a lonely life.

I am grateful that I was able to let my walls down and let Derek in. Relationships are never easy, but if you can find someone you are willing to fight for and in our case someone to fight _with_, it makes every struggle you face worth it.

Derek catches my eye and smiles at me, after almost 35 years of marriage you would think that I would be immune to his charms, but when he smiles at me I am transported back to the day we met in that greasy diner hoping for the chance to see him again.

_Thank you so much for reading! Please tell me what you think. I would like to write another story some day so any input on how I maybe be better at writing the in future would be wonderful!_


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